5.
A couple days have passed since the day I came to this castle. After waiting and waiting for the right opportunity, I successfully slipped out of my room while Eliza was out for a second. It was all fun and games at first but…
“Oh, no…” I mumbled as I looked around. The seemingly endless hallway was stretched out as far as the eye could see. “I don’t know where I am!”
I started to get scared that I might get lost in this abnormally large castle and starve to death before I could “accidentally” run into my father. This castle truly was abnormally, absolutely, ridiculously large. I had no chance of finding my father’s room, or even the way back to my own room.
“What do I do?” I mumbled nervously. I really should have just asked Eliza to take me to my father’s room. Then, none of this would’ve happened. Tears started welling up in my eyes.
Suddenly, I heard a voice from a distance say, “Is that true? What is she going to do?”
“Poor Ella,” another voice answered.
Someone’s coming!
I sprang up from the floor and waddled in the direction the voices were coming.
Hurry, legs, hurry. I can’t lose them,
I pleaded in my head, but my short body that wasn’t used to walking refused to listen.
Don’t lose them
, I repeated to myself as I desperately waddled after the voices.
“Shoot, we’re going to be late. Let’s walk a little faster so we don’t get yelled at,” said one of the voices.
“Alright, let’s hurry,” said the other.
Darn it! Don’t do that to me!
I thought, then shouted as loud as I could, “Wait!” bBut to no avail. It seemed like I was too far away for them to hear me. Desperate not to lose the maids, I forced my uncooperative legs into a sprint.
“Poor Ella, really. And her house looked so much sturdier than the others. Who knew it would just tumble down like that?” lamented one of the voices.
“Right? I heard her father might never be able to use his left arm again,” lamented the other as well.
“Oh, no. I was feeling bad when Nellin’s house toppled down and she had to live in a tent until she could figure things out, but Ella’s case seems so much worse,” sighed the first voice.
I was too busy trying to catch up to really listen to what they were saying at first, but the more I listened, the more perplexed I became.
What on earth are they talking about?
“You know, I’m starting to get scared my house might come tumbling down,” whispered the second voice.
“Me too. Dad said he got some extra wood leaned against the wall, but I’m still scared,” answered the first voice.
Why are they both so scared their houses might collapse?
I questioned in my head as I continued to run.
“I was so relieved we didn’t have any typhoons this summer, but who knew the winter storms were going to be this bad?” said the second voice.
I mean, yes, houses can be damaged by typhoons and storms, but what kind of a house would just collapse at the blow of a wind, or a drop of rain?
Then suddenly, I recalled Eliza saying that the sudden surge of beasts left the nearby towns severely damaged. Perhaps some foundational damage happened then. Or perhaps the houses were destroyed but were not properly repaired, thus causing problems.
When I was letting my imagination run wild based on what I’d gathered, a cool voice called from above, “What are you doing here?”
“Hmm?” I looked ahead to find a large shadow cast over me. I slowly panned up. When my neck couldn’t go back any further, I found the face I’d been looking all along.
“And I thought you were still too weak to be running around outside,” he said, looking as stern as ever.
“Da-” I quickly paused when it occurred to me that he might think it rude if I called him,
dad,
and said instead, “Father!”
He raised an eyebrow and said, “You barely could say anything a couple days ago. I didn’t know you could be this loud.”
A couple days ago? Oh, at the garden? Well, that was because you seemed super scary…
I almost pouted, but managed to catch myself before I could.
Be like Lina!
I told myself again.
Smile like Lina. Disarm him with your charm!
“I was feewing shy,” I was having a fair bit of trouble making my smile natural because smiles were so foreign to my lips.
Fake it till you make it,
I thought as I tried my best anyway.
“You were feeling shy?” he asked. It seemed like my new tactic was working.
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Why is that?” he asked again.
“Umm…” I paused.
What would Lina say? She’s someone who never lies but always compliments people. Like she magically only could see the good side in everyone. So, if Lina were here, she’d say…
“Because you’re the coolest person I’ve ever met, Father!” I ran up to him and grabbed his pants with my tiny hands, then looked up with my best puppy dog eyes, saying, “I think you’re the coolest person in the world.”
Not bad, eh?
I smirked in my head.
Bet you couldn’t find another cute, smart daughter like me who already thinks you’re the best anywhere.
After a short pause, he said, “…You’re pulling my pants down.”
That was the response I was expecting at all. My lips immediately abandoned the fake smile and pouted instead.
Right, of course, I’ll never be Lina. What did I…
“But you do have good taste,” he added. My thoughts short-circuited for a moment.
Wait, what? What did he just say?
“Umm, well…” I forced my lips back into a smile and quickly answered, “Like father, like daughter.”
Dad covered his face with his large hand. For a split second, I thought I caught a glimpse of a smile. Or was it a trick of the light?
He saw that I was confusedly staring at him and ordered, “Go to your room. It’s already late.”
“I can’t,” I shook my head. I know, I know, a good girl who loves and respects her father would have shouted, “Sir, yes, sir!” and disappeared straight away, but… it was the truth.
“Why not?” he asked, giving me his stern look.
Why do you think?
I thought as I answered, “I’m lost…”
The dumbfounded look he made next was pretty funny.
***
Dad assigned two maids to me so I wouldn’t get lost roaming about the castle while Eliza was doing something else. According to Eliza, the two maids, Jane and Lydia, were widely praised among the staff of the castle. She thought that this was clear evidence of Dad caring about me.
Whether that was true or not, this was a good sign indeed. Assigning two of his employees specifically to me meant that he didn’t intend on kicking me out right now, one way or another.
“My lady, this is a present from his grace,” said Jane as she handed me a small box.
What is this?
I wondered. I opened the expensive looking box to find a mound of cookies lying underneath a sheet of parchment paper. And on top of the parchment paper lied a small envelope and a feather pen.
A couple sheets of paper with scribbles on them were neatly folded in the envelope. I realized that these were another set of equations. They were much more organized than the ones I saw on Dad’s papers the day we had lunch together, but they were still quite complicated.
There were no indications of what these were for, either. I realized pretty quickly last time that the equations were about finding the volume of a sphere because there was a picture of a sphere last time, but it seemed like I was going to have to figure it out on my own as I follow the equations this time.
“I heard his grace really cares about Lady Vivierre. It was true,” said Jane.
How do you know?
I thought as I looked at her.
Surely you’re not basing that on his sending me cookies and a math problem to solve.
“This feather pen is the very one that’s been passed down in this family for generations,” continued Jane.
“Yes, yes, you’re right! How did you know that, Jane?” asked Lydia.
“Here’s the family sigil, right here. Look,” said Jane as she pointed at the tip of the pen.
“Yes, I see it. I heard his grace really cherishes this pen,” exclaimed Lydia.
I quietly studied the feather pen I’d grabbed without much thought as I listened to their conversation. Now that I looked, there really was a sigil of House Andante at the tip of the pen. Not necessarily because I now knew the worth of this pen, but its shaft actually felt much smoother in my hand than any other feather pen I’d used in my past life.
Must be expensive,
I smirked in my head. Actually, I might have smirked in real life too. These little gifts will be of great value when I eventually have to leave the nest and start my own life.
“Have some cookies, my lady,” said Lydia. They’d put some of the cookies on a small plate while I was busy staring at the papers and the pen.
I was feeling a little hungry for a snack anyway, so I gladly took a bite of one of the cookies.
“Oh!” I gasped. I could tell just from that one bite that these cookies were on a whole new different level than ordinary cookies. The butter cookie had this incredibly, well, buttery and nutty flavor while having just the right amount of sweetness. The double chocolate cookie really allowed you to taste the chocolate, but it wasn’t too sweet so it would be perfect with milk.
“This is so good,” I mumbled with a mouth full of cookies. I was in utter bliss. Just a month ago from now, I was barely survived surviving on scrap pieces of food I managed to find on the ground, but now, everything single thing I put in my mouth tasted heavenly.
And these cookies, were the best of the best.
“Look, these are from Remitabol Bakery in the capital,” exclaimed Lydia.
“They are! I heard you they only made these to order,” chimed in Jane.
I gathered that these cookies were special cookies from a very popular bakery in the capital that were hard to come by in the castle.
If I get a box of these cookies for every math problem I solve, I’ll solve a hundred,
I thought, dunking a cookie in the glass of milk Jane had handed to me.
This must be what heaven’s like.
After savoring each bite of that cookie, I finally snapped to my senses and looked at the two of them.
“Jane, Dia,” I called.
“Yes, my lady,” they answered.
“Have some,” I said as I offered them the box. Jane and Lydia widened their eyes.
Jane said, “For us? But my lady, these are special cookies.”
“I know. But shawing is cawing. And, and I can’t finish this by myself anyway. You can have the west, just don’t forget to leave some for Liza,” I answered.
“Oh, my lady…” exclaimed Lydia as the two of them looked at me like they couldn’t be more touched.
“Thank you so much,” said Jane.
“Of course.” I grabbed their hands and added, “If you ever have something yummy too, don’t forget to share it with me.”
“Of course, my lady,” smiled Jane.
I smiled back ear to ear, rubbing my full tummy, perfectly content with having new treat buddies.
It was a peaceful afternoon.